Installation of a new Offshore Artificial Reef has begun off the State’s north coast to create a habitat for local fish and aquatic organisms.
Minister for Agriculture, Adam Marshall announced the $1 million project which has already seen the installation of a 10-metre-high steel centrepiece and the first of 32 concrete modules.
“This Offshore Artificial Reef is a massive hook for recreational fishers and the local landscape, with its innovative design to encourage a wide diversity of marine growth for fish to flourish in,” Mr Marshall said.
“NSW has the most beautiful beaches in the world, and with the Tweed reef sitting in the warm waters of the State’s far north coast, these are the perfect conditions for recreational fishers to cast a line and land a trophy catch,” he said.
“This state-of-the-art structure is a fantastic example of recreational fishing licence fees at work – built using funds from the NSW Recreational Fishing Trust to showcase how fees are being re-invested into projects.”
Mr Marshall said the reef was located approximately 7.5 kilometres south east of the Tweed Heads river entrance, between Cook Island and Kingscliff and approximately 2.5 kilometres off the coast of Wommin Bay at a depth of 25 metres.
He said new reefs were set to be completed in Batemans Bay and Jervis Bay by 2022.
